A/N: Italics indicate internal thought.

Bold indicates Reaper speech

Bold Italics indicate Reaper internal speech

Please comment and review

This is my first attempt at a story, so I am open to constructive criticism. Also If anyone has suggestions for the story feel free to give them.


Rage Unleashed


Location: The Citadel, Shalta Ward, 'Former' Dredoroh Auction House.

Time: 1300 CST

Date: 16th November

The scene was one of devastation. Where the auction house once stood, there was only a mound of rubble. Several fires were still burning, a consequence of the explosion that had just occurred.

Through the gaps in the debris a red light could be seen flickering. Suddenly Reaper burst out from the rubble with a roar. He staggered forward, panting heavily. There were multiple tears in his coat, and even his armour was sporting a considerable number of dents. He clenched his teeth in pain as he felt the familiar sensation of the skin on his forearms burning, dammit…. that was close, if that barrier had been any weaker, I don't think we would have survived. Looks like I went over my limit again though, Miranda ain't gonna be happy about that, he thought as he clenched and unclenched his fists until the pain subsided.

Quickly turning back to the point where he burst out of the rubble, he reached into the hole with the intention of giving Kasumi a hand. The Japanese woman was desperately choking due to the dust that had been kicked up by the explosion. She looked to be in even worse shape than Reaper as there were multiple tears in her stealth suit. She reached up and instead of grasping Reaper's hand, she passed him the unconscious form of Sally. Reaper placed the unconscious girl on the ground and after making sure she was breathing; he turned his attention back to Kasumi and pulled her up.

She swayed back and forth slightly and almost fell over but John quickly steadied her, "Kasumi are you alright?" he said, almost panicked. "Alright maybe a bit generous big guy, but I'm alive…..thanks to you," she said, smiling and giving a light chuckle. Her expression turned grim as her gaze landed on Sally, "what about her? Is she alright?" Kasumi asked as she took a step forward, and almost collapsed again. Reaper quickly caught her and helped her sit down, then he walked back over to the unconscious teenager. He crouched down in front of her and activated his omni-tool, "A few scrapes and bruises but thankfully nothing serious, she just fainted."

Suddenly John's eyes widened in horror as he looked around. The damage of the explosion hadn't been limited just to the auction house. Both buildings immediately either side of it had likewise been reduced to absolute rubble, and several buildings beyond them suffered varying degrees of damage, some of them had even caught fire. Looking directly ahead of him he saw the street in front had been completely demolished, as had several buildings on the other side of it. John desperately hoped that he was imagining it but he could identify the forms of many bodies buried in the rubble.

He detonated that bomb…. all this destruction, just to try and kill us? How many people did he destroy, just to try and kill us? He was desperately trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Why do you consider this a tragedy Jonathan…. I have told you time and time again that there is nothing worth saving about these beings. These lives lost are nothing to grieve over, it is a successful extermination of vermin," the rasping voice echoed in his ears.

But none of these other buildings were auction houses, they were just normal businesses, they-

"Do you truly believe that none of these places employed a human slave to labour for them. Do you think the ones living here did not contribute to the discrimination and indignity our people have suffered? And even if they did not contribute to humanity's pain, did they do anything to prevent it? Have they done anything to rectify the crimes of their brethren? No, they did nothing," the voice was ringing in his is ears even more now.

"Furthermore, do not place responsibility for the death of these vermin on yourself Jonathan, it was not you who caused that explosion, it was him. Although, nothing more could be expected of their kind, they care only for their own gain no matter what suffering they cause to others."

John's clenched fists began to tremble in rage, he gritted his teeth in anger as he realised that the voice was speaking the truth. He didn't cause the explosion; he wasn't responsible for this destruction. Sinclair was.

"Boss!" Kasumi called out to him, "we gotta get out of here, C-sec will be here any second." Nodding his head in understanding, Reaper quickly picked up Sally and the two of them started running.


000


Location: The Citadel, Shalta Ward, Cerberus Safe house.

Time: 1530 CST

Date: 16th November

The safe house was in actuality an abandoned apartment complex. Sally was resting on the bed, still unconscious. Kasumi was sitting in a chair, partly undressed, while Reaper was cleaning a cut, she had sustained on her shoulder. "I heard that you were amazing, but putting up a barrier capable of protecting us from an explosion at point-blank, that's just incredible," she remarked.

"I suppose that could be said about a lot of the things I do," he replied, as he applied a gauze over the cut. Kasumi pulled her suit back on, before she started to massage her left temple. He stood back up, "EDI were we able to trace where Sinclair was broadcasting that message from?" he asked, as he activated his omni-tool. "Yes Reaper, I traced the message to his penthouse on the Presidium. Although I believe classifying it as a penthouse suite is rather an understatement, due to the fact, in size, it is more comparable to a mansion," she explained.

"Dammit," Reaper growled, "doesn't give us any leads to where his little torture show is taking place," out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kasumi cringe slightly at the mention of that.

"Actually Reaper, I believe I have identified the location." On his HUD the AI brought up the video of the torture session, "it was difficult to identify due to the low light levels, but this structure," she highlighted a large and extravagant doorframe in the background. "Is identical to a doorframe in Sinclair's mansion," she brought up another image, this one was of Sinclair wearing a suit addressing a crowd in a very well-lit room. Reaper immediately saw the identical structure of the doorframe behind him.

"So, he's holding these events in his own house?" Reaper asked, staggered.

"I guess that's one way to make sure no one finds out about them," Kasumi joined in, her tone scathing, "instead of having them take place where you hope no one will find them. You have them take place where no one can enter without an invitation."

"You seem to have some knowledge of Patrice Sinclair and his 'Ars Doloris'," he remarked. Kasumi looked down, "Sinclair has high standing within the galactic community, something most humans would find impossible to achieve. Using his connections, he established himself as a highly respectable financier and slave dealer, but his true fortune comes from his sick shows where they torture some innocent human to death in front of a crowd. It really freaked me out when I first learned about the number of people who actually attend them. Bau and a couple of his Spectre friends have spent years trying to put a stop to them, acting on Intel from Sha'ira. They've crashed several events and killed everyone they found there," she gritted her teeth, "but Sinclair always seems to find a way to restart them."

Another perfect example of how messed up this galaxy is. The only humans who can make something of themselves are the ones who join in on causing pain.

"Then tonight. We put a stop to this once and for all."


000


Location: The Citadel, Presidium, Sinclair's Mansion Penthouse.

Time: 1900 CST

Date: 16th November

EDI had not been wrong in comparing Sinclair's residence to a mansion, the structure was massive. Kasumi and Reaper had spent several hours scouting out the place trying to find an entrance, and the first thing they noticed was the considerable number of guards watching the front doors. Another thing they had noticed over the past couple of hours, was the considerable number of guests that had been arriving. EDI had identified two things all of these arrivals had in common, they were all people of considerable wealth and influence, and they were taking every precaution to ensure their arrival remained discreet.

Around the side of the building, three mercenaries were guarding a small side door, usually used by the cleaning staff to take out the garbage and things like that. None of them were very attentive, in truth they were waiting for their shift to end so they could go inside and join the spectators.

Suddenly two of the guards felt their heads being squeezed and they were lifted completely off their feet. They only had a few seconds to see the imposing form of Reaper before both of their heads imploded. The third one was still in shock at how the infamous terrorist seemingly appeared from nowhere that he didn't even react when he felt his head grabbed by some sort of invisible force, and with a quick twist his neck was snapped.

"We've got to move fast," Kasumi said, as she began to hack the door, "all of these guests arriving can only mean that the show is about to start."

"Agreed. You search the building, see if you can find any other prisoners. If there are, get them out of here. If not, head to the main room…..and make sure none of them escape."

"Escape? What you mean?" Kasumi asked. Reaper just continued to look forward, "I'm going to give them exactly what they asked for," he said as he activated his cloak and headed off, Kasumi looked slightly uneasy as she activated her own cloak and went to carry out her own assignment.

With EDI's help John was able to find the main room where the 'events' took place, but John's main interest at the moment wasn't on that, it was on the smaller rooms around it. And looking inside one, he found exactly what he was looking for. It was some kind of dressing room, but the clothes all consisted of black robes and executioner hoods, the dressing room of the piece of shit who carries out the torture, John deduced. Hearing footsteps coming he quickly stepped into a corner, his tactical cloak still active, a few moments later a well-built human stepped into the room. He proceeded to the various executioner outfits he had hanging up, he put one of the cloaks on and pulled the hood over his head, he began admiring himself in the mirror. "Sinclair told me I got a bigger audience than ever out there; I've got to outdo myself tonight."

He turned around only for a clawed gauntlet to grab him by the face, "don't worry, I'll cover for you tonight," Reaper said, his voice deathly calm. The man could only squirm as his body withered and the life was drained out of him.

Meanwhile in the main room all the guests were waiting for the event to start. They were all wearing extravagant clothing, making it seem that they should be attending a high-class function instead of this. They were all sitting at various tables, looking towards a slightly raised platform with a strange hole in the centre that also continued into the floor. The platform also had a couple of tables on it, both having a wide array of torture implements on them.

Sinclair stood up to address the crowd, "ladies and gentlemen, the latest session of 'Ars Doloris' will now commence," he said. Steam rose from the main platform, then something else began to ascend out of the floor before stopping when it was level with the platform. There, her arms forced above her head, both her wrists and ankles shackled to a poll, was Jennifer Shepard. She looked haggard, but the young woman mustered all the strength she could to glare at the crowd watching her. She desperately tugged at her shackles, but this action only seemed to amuse the crowd, so she glared at even harder.

She then heard the sounds of footsteps behind her, and turning her head as far as she could in her restrained position, she saw her soon-to-be torturer. He was wearing a very long black robe that completely covered him. She couldn't even see his feet or his hands under the long sleeves, and his face was covered by a large hood. Jen could feel her fear growing as he slowly stepped ever closer towards her, but she was determined not to show any fear, I'm not going to give this scum the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

He was standing right next to her now, instead of going over to pick up one of the tools, he merely raised his arm and began to bring his hand closer to her face. She desperately tried to lean away from him, all the while glaring daggers at him. As his hand neared her neck, she expected him to yank on her hair or grab her throat in an attempt to make her scream. But all she felt was a tiny prick and then her vision started to become hazy, she tried to focus but she only seemed to get weaker. Then her supposed torturer whispered something to her, "rest now, I promise when you wake, this will all seem like a bad dream."

John could only stare at his sister as she fell unconscious, due to the sedative he had just given her. He was vaguely aware of some of the guests voicing their disapproval at what had just happened. Making remarks such as 'this is not what we paid to see' and the like. He was also vaguely aware of two guards slowly making their way to the platform. He was vaguely aware that they increased pace as he broke his sister's shackles and laid her unconscious form down. He wasn't focusing on them at the moment, ever since the moment he had seen his sister kidnapped right in front of him his anger had been building. And at this moment, when his sister had been just seconds away from being tortured to death for some sick form of entertainment, the dam holding back his rage was a second away from breaking.

"You came here to witness torturer," He said, his voice echoed across the room and many of the guests immediately became nervous, "you came here to witness pain. You came here to witness death," he continued, his voice still eerily calm. He whipped around and tore off the black robe, exposing his armour, hooded trenchcoat and glowing red eyes. "THEN I SHALL GIVE YOU ALL YOU DESIRE!" he roared.

And the dam broke.

[BGM start: 'Monster' by Skillet]

In a flash Reaper delivered a powerful punch to the chest of one of the guards, the blow sent him flying into one of the walls with enough force to break his neck. He sweep kicked the Turian guard off his feet, then using one hand to hold him down by the throat, he drove the claws of his other hand the into his gut's, before proceeding to pull out his entrails. This brutal act caused many of the guests to scream in horror, before they jumped to their feet and began to run. But he would not let any of them escape.

He grabbed two knives from one of the tables and threw them, he skewered one Asari through her throat, and nailed a Batarian in the back. Next, he picked up the entire table and threw it, crushing an unfortunate Salarian beneath it. Letting lose an animalistic roar, Reaper leapt off the platform and into the mists of the attending guests. He landed on a Turian, driving him to the ground and impaling his throat with his claws. He did not ignite his energy blades, he did not use his guns, he tore through all those he could reach with his claws growling like a wild beast.

A Batarian clutched his chest, trying in vain to stop the blood flowing from five massive gashes, before he fell over. An Asari screamed, as half of her face was shredded, before she was silenced by a slice through her jugular. A bleeding Hanar could only squirm helplessly on the floor, as a metal boot crushed the jellyfish -like alien. All of them could only scream and run as John unleashed his rage.

Several had miraculously made it to the doorway, mostly by the means of sacrificing the others. Unfortunately for them, they were all gunned down before they could make it any further. Kasumi decloaked as she aimed her submachinegun at a barely alive Volus. She sneered at him in utter disgust, "you ask me? This is much better than you deserve," she said coldly, as she fired.

John's armour was covered in blood of various colours, as he looked around frantically. His blood-soaked haze had started to clear, so it was now that he realised something alarming. Sakcakan wasn't here, and if he wasn't here, then where was Molly.

His eyes scanned those trying to flee, to see if he could spot the Batarian, but it only confirmed that for some reason, Sakcakan hadn't attended.

Continuing to glance around, Reaper's eyes landed on something that made his anger surge again. Sinclair was being escorted out of the hall via another exit, by several guards. Reaper let out another primal roar before charging after him.

He quickly caught up with the despicable being, he was attempting to reach an elevator at the end of a hallway, which was in turn full of guards. Seeing him they quickly tried to raise their weapons, but they were inevitably, too slow.

John charged forward, he grabbed the closest guard, a Batarian, by the head and slammed him into the ground, pulverising his skull. Then he moved between a Turian and a Salarian, he punched outwards with both hands, driving his fists into their chests, shattering their rib cages, crushing the organs within and slamming them into the walls. He used his claws to slice the throat of another Batarian guard. A Turian tried to open fire on him, but John leaned to the side to avoid it, then he grabbed the guard by the back of his head, spun around and slammed him into the wall on his right, creating a bloody smear, he threw the corpse back into the wall on his left. An Asari tried to hit him with a biotic punch, but he ducked under it, grabbed her outstretched arm, judo threw her over him, and crushed her head with a curb stomp. He shoulder charged another Batarian and crushed him against the wall. He delivered a right hook to a Salarian with enough force to snap their neck.

[BGM End]

Now there was no one left between him and Sinclair. The man backed away desperately, until he hit the elevator door. "Okay, we can resolve this. We should talk. We can work this out!" The elevator door opened, but before he could jump in, Reaper grabbed him by his shirt and threw him against the wall. Before Sinclair could fall to the ground, Reaper slammed his fist into the man hand, crushing it against the wall and pulverising every bone in it. Sinclair screamed in pain and fell to his knees. Reaper then lifted his foot and slammed it down on Sinclair's foreleg, breaking it like a twig.

"WHERE IS SAKCAKAN?!" he roared.

"Doc….Docking bay 12. Changed his mind, decided not to attend at the last minute. Please. It was nothing personal," he pleaded.

"Tell that to all the lives you've destroyed," he said coldly. Sinclair screamed in pain as his life was drained.

'Damn it, he must've been tipped off about my attack on the auction house, he could leave the Citadel any minute. How the hell do I get to the docking bays in time?'

As he was rattling his brains for a way to rescue his other sister, Reaper noticed the sign on the elevator. It read 'garage'. 'Garage, that means Cars'.

"Kasumi," Reaper said, as he activated his omni-tool, "Sakcakan was never here. I'm heading to his location now. Get Jen somewhere safe, then meet me at docking bay 12."

"Docking bay… wait let me come with yo-," she was cut off as John disconnected the call and headed down the elevator.

As expected, the elevator let him out in a garage area filled with over a dozen sky-cars, quickly looking them over, he identified the one with the highest top speed, 'this model costs a small fortune….. how many of his 'events' did he need to hold to afford it,' John thought, disgusted.

He used his omni-tool to unlock the car and start its engine. Wasting no time John accelerated out of the garage and joined one of the Citadels many sky-lanes. "EDI, find the fastest route to docking bay 12," he ordered. "Acknowledged," the AI responded, before bringing up a map of the sky-lanes with a route highlighted. Reaper immediately began accelerating far beyond the speed limit for the Citadel, as he tore past dozens of other sky-cars. He then moved over into a sky-lane going in the opposite direction. Multiple sky-cars honked at him and swerved out of the way, before he turned onto another lane. Even though he was travelling at incredibly fast speeds, John felt like his insides were about to explode, he was afraid he was already too late and Sakcakan had already left. He could not begin to describe his relief as he saw the luxury ship in the distance, still docked, although he had a feeling it wouldn't remain that way for long.

He parked the car as close as he could without being seen and jumped out. He quickly observed the area. This spaceport wasn't somewhere an individual of Sakcakan's status would usually park when visiting the Citadel, but if you wanted to arrive at the station unannounced, you docked at one of the less important spaceports. There were about a dozen other ships docked here, a couple of passenger ships and a few cargo transports as well as dozens of workers and C-sec officers on patrol.

Realising that Sakcakan could potentially depart any moment, Reaper activated his cloak and sprinted towards the Batarian luxury yacht.

He snuck up the boarding ramp and onto the ship, there was a guard standing near the door, but thankfully his back was still turned, deactivating his cloak, Reaper snuck up behind him and in a swift motion snapped his neck. As Reaper moved through the ship he came to a small flight of stairs, at the foot of the stairs was another guard, looking completely bored. Reaper slowly descended the stairs, creeping up behind him. At the last second the Batarian seemed to sense there was someone behind him and turned around. Only to be met by a red energy blade through his throat, that prevented him from crying out. Reaper silently lowered the body to the floor, thankfully his presence on the ship hadn't yet been detected, but he had a feeling that wouldn't last.

Suddenly Reaper's audio picked up the sound of sobbing and followed it. Peaking around a corner he saw two more Batarian guards with the trembling form of Molly between them, John's breath almost caught in his throat when he saw her. She was wearing a skimpy white outfit, that revealed a lot of skin and had a slave collar locked round her neck. There was also another Batarian, while many people would say that all four-eyes looked alike, John could see the family resemblance. This was Baros Sakcakan, Rovan's older brother. He grabbed Molly by her collar and pulled her up until their faces were just inches apart. "You at least deserve to know why you're here girl," he sneered, "you are here because your bastard brother killed mine. Your fate is the direct consequence of his actions, it is his fault you are here now," he pushed her away. The doors behind him opened and out stepped Lord Prathan Sakcakan, the older Batarian looked at the young girl and growled, "my desire was to see justice done to your entire wretched family for what your brother did, but I suppose I shall have to focus the entirety of it on you," tears began to fall from Molly's eyes.

Baros turned to his father, "I'm afraid the tip was correct. Reaper was at Sinclair's Mansion." Prathan gritted his teeth in anger before turning to look at Molly again, "take pleasure knowing that your sister has been rescued girl. I assure you; it will be the last time you do," he then began to drag the girl back to his room.

Reaper clenched his fist in rage, hearing what they intended to do to his sister. Suddenly Baros jerked his head in Reaper's direction. Reaper quickly ducked back behind the corner, hoping that he hadn't been seen. Baros narrowed his eyes in suspicion before he turned to the other guards, "check the ship," he stated. The two guards raised their weapons and proceeded to check the hallways.

One passed a door to one of crew lavatories, suddenly it opened and before he could react a clawed gauntlet grabbed him by the throat and pulled him in. Where Reaper proceeded to slam his head against the basin and then snap his neck. The other turned a corner, only to be met with the towering form of Reaper. The armoured behemoth drove his clawed fingertips into the guard's throat and let him choke on his own blood.

Suddenly Reaper was peppered by high velocity slugs from behind, turning around he saw another Batarian holding a submachinegun. John quickly grabbed one of his own guns and fired off a couple of shots, both nailing the shooter in the chest and killing him. Unfortunately, the gunfire had obviously been overheard and John could already hear several more sets of footsteps heading towards him. One of the doors nearby opened and a Batarian stepped out, he was immediately cut down by a bolt to the forehead. Sadly, there was another Batarian right behind him. The new Batarian opened fire, but John quickly raised a barrier to absorb the shots. He tried to fire a few energy bolts back, but the guard had already ducked behind a corner. Reaper proceeded to head through another door, and found himself in a lounge-like area with several sofas. Getting an idea, he ducked behind one of the sofas. The guard he had exchanged fire with a few seconds ago, followed him in, he quickly scanned the room trying to see where his armoured attacker had gone. From his position behind the sofa, Reaper fired a shot through the gap underneath, hitting the Batarian in the ankle. He screamed in pain and fell onto his back, clutching the charred stump that had once been his foot, before Reaper stood back up and put him out of his misery with a headshot. Another guard tried to enter, but Reaper was on him quickly and knocked the weapon out of his grasp with his free hand before he fired a couple of shots into his chest.

Suddenly Reaper was hit from behind with the full force of a shotgun blast. The blast caught him in the right shoulder, causing him to drop his gun. Twisting around Reaper saw that his attacker was Baros, who was holding a AT-12 Raider shotgun. Reaper try to lunge at the Batarian, but Baros fired another shot, hitting him directly in the chest. John struggled to breathe as he staggered against the wall, blood began to seep out of several small holes in his armour from his shoulder. Realisation of the situation set in. He hadn't completely recovered from expending all that energy to create a shield for the explosion, in addition to all the energy he'd expanded at Sinclair's his levels were low, that shot at point blank had been enough to deplete his barrier. As he struggled to regain his breath, the Batarian laughed at him, "I've heard all the horror stories about you. They think you're some kind of demon. But in truth, you just another pitiful human," he aimed the shotgun at John's head.

'I'm not going to fail here. I will save my sister. Whatever it takes' he forced more energy through his body, his forearms began to burn but he ignored the pain and charged forward, roaring. With his left hand he grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, forcing it aside. It still went off, but just glanced the side of his faceplate. He channelled more energy, and the familiar red energy began to appear around his right forearm. Suddenly the energy began to surge even greater than usual, and instead of forming the familiar blade it formed something much larger. The energy shifted into a massive clawed hand, projected around his own, each claw approximately a meter long. Baros merely stared at the new energy construct in shock, he didn't even try to dodge as all five of them were driven into his body. Reaper used the claws to lift him off the ground and bring him closer. Reaper lifted his face plate for a moment. Baros eyes widened in realisation as blood began to drip from his mouth, "say hello to your brother for me," John said, as the claws dissipated and the body fell to the ground.

Seeing that all the hostiles in the area had been dealt with, John headed to Sakcakan's quarters. He griped the doors; the metal slightly deforming, and wrenched them open. Sakcakan was standing there, holding Molly in front of him like a human shield with a knife at her throat. "Don't come any closer, we can negotiate" he said, his voice trembling. To prove his threat genuine, he pressed the knife against Molly's throat a little more, a tiny trickle of blood ran down her neck.

It was an almost insignificant amount, but the sight of it triggered an overwhelming rage within John. "Kill him, make him know pain" the voice roared inside his head.

He yelled in rage and activated a biotic charge. He surged forward in a flash of red, but he knew attacking straight on with likely only get his sister killed, so he reappeared to their right. In a flash he grabbed Sakcakan's knife hand with his right hand and the back of his neck with his left. He wrenched the Batarian's arm away first, causing him to drop his knife. Molly, realising she was no longer being gripped, pulled away from him frantically.

Seeing that his sister was now safe Reaper decided to fully let lose his anger. "I don't negotiate with vermin." He threw the Batarian like a rag doll, slamming him into the wall, creating a small crater. He then lifted him up by his throat and head-butted him, then delivered a right hook to his face, both blows causing blood to fly from the Batarian's face. Reaper dropped him onto the ground, then kicked him in the chest, sending him skidding across the floor. Sakcakan tried desperately to crawl away, but Reaper grabbed him by the leg and threw him back against the wall. John then grabbed the man's face with both his hands, and with a final roar plunged his claw's into the Batarian's four eyes. After Sakcakan stopped screaming, John dropped his limp body to the floor.

'Yes John, the anger feels good doesn't it, don't suppress it Jonathan, hardness it, your rage will make you stronger,' John flinched as the rasping voice echoed in his head.

Taking several deep breaths, he turned towards Molly, she was sitting on the floor, looking at him, trembling. Reaper held out his hand to her, "it's all right yo-".

He was cut off as she let out ear piercing scream, and desperately crawled away from him. John was trying to comprehend what was wrong with her, until he saw a mirror nearby, and finally got a decent look at himself. He was practically drenched in blood, he also realised she had witnessed his brutal actions, 'damn, what you must think of me,' he voiced internally.


000


From his advantage point among a group of cargo containers, John stared at the Batarian yacht a small distance away. He heard footsteps behind him and soon enough Katsumi stood next to him. "Both girls are back at the safe house, they haven't suffered any serious injuries, after some bed rest we should be able to take them home," she said, her tone stoic. John glanced at her momentarily, "you can ask if you have a question," he stated.

"The true purpose of this mission wasn't to kill Sakcakan what it?" she replied, "Your attacks on the homeworlds and the facilities. Those were important targets. But assassinating a Lord of the Hegemony, yeah we shut down 'art of suffering', hopefully this time for good, but what did we actually gain. Killing him wasn't the mission, rescuing those girls was." She paused for a second, "I'd like to know why, do we owe their family a favour or something?"

Reaper continued to stare at the ship, but after a while give a deep sigh, "you helped me rescue them, I already owe you a great deal for that. Kaidan and Miranda say I should think about trusting people more, guess I should at least try," and with that he removed his helmet.

Kasumi's eyes widened in recognition, "you're…. well…. that explains it….. quite well actually," Kasumi stuttered.

"I'll meet you back at the safe house in a few hours," he stated as he stood back up. "huh? Where are you going?" she asked. His expression turned grim, "one of my sisters is still missing Kasumi, and there's only one person I can ask," Kasumi nodded in realisation.

John turned back towards the ship, then clenched his first. A massive explosion tore through the ship blowing several holes in the hull while reducing anything that was left to a charred wreck. Kasumi gave an impressed whistle, "so you can just create those orbs and detonate them at will tha—."

BOOOOM!

Her words were drowned out by the sounds of another explosions. Both of them looked around, only to be met with a dreadful sight, one of the passenger ships had seemingly suffered a massive explosion….while people were boarding it. Neither of them had any time to consider what was happening as dozens of other explosions tore through the entire spaceport. Almost all the other ships were consumed by fiery blasts. The docking magnets for one of the cargo ships were destroyed causing it to fall, several of the other walkways began to collapse due to the damage.

"What's….. what's happening?" Kasumi asked desperately. "I don't know, I only planned one charge inside Sakcakan's ship," he responded, "the…..the timing of this….. it can't be a coincidence…. Someone planned this to happen concurrently….. Dōshite sō natta?" Kasumi struggled to get the words out as she witnessed the devastation.

"We have to leave now, with this much devastation C-sec will soon be crawling all over here, head back to the safe house, I'll meet you there." Kasumi nodded and they both began running.


000


Location: The Citadel, Presidium, Moralinia Atruli's Apartment.

Time: 2200 CST

Date: 16th November

Moralinia stepped out of the shower, letting out a relaxed sigh before she began to dry herself off. She wrapped the towel around herself before she sat on the couch and activated the large Vid screen on the wall. The image appeared, showing a broadcast of the Citadel news, the anchor, an Asari, had a grim expression on her face, "we bring you this announcement to inform you about a truly terrible event that has just occurred. Less than two hours ago, spaceport three was completely decimated by over a dozen explosions. Authorities have not released any information about the source of the explosions, but many people believe that this was not an accident."

Moralinia held her hands over her mouth in shock. Spaceport 3 was where Sakcakan's ship was, the report made it sound he was likely dead. She turned off the screen and cast her head downwards.

"Quite a tragic event isn't it," a voice spoke from behind her. She gave a yell of surprise before scrambling to her feet and spinning around. Standing there wearing nothing but civilian clothes, completely unarmed and seemingly without a care in the world was Jonathan Shepard, giving her a hard glare.

"How…. How did you get here?" she asked still quite shocked that he had not only gotten onto the Citadel but also gotten into her apartment completely undetected. Shepard continued to glare at her, "that's not really your biggest concern right now. To confirm what you suspect, yes Sakcakan is dead. So is Sinclair. Two of my sisters are safe, but one is still missing and you're the only one who seems to know where she is." John's stare hardened even further, "so I'm going to make this simple. Where is she?"

The Asari Spectre was still getting over the shock of the home invasion so she didn't respond to his question, but as she registered everything he had said, she came to the realisation, "you were able to get onto the Citadel undetected, that can only mean one thing," a smile formed on her lips, "you're with Cerberus," she stated. John took another step towards her, "I won't ask again squid," he said through gritted teeth.

Moralinia just continued to smile, "this is perfect, with you we can finally gain the information needed to crush Cerberus for good," her expression becoming more fanatical. John cocked an eyebrow at her, "your deluded if you think I'm going to help you, and that's forgetting the fact you can't beat me in a fight." The Asari looked at him slyly, "oh I imagine you'll change your opinion in a second," she lashed out and tried to grab his shoulder, but with his superior reflexes, John grabbed her wrist. Then her eyes turned black, "look at me and tell me you'd do anything for me, anything I desire," she said, seductively. John couldn't explain what was happening, from the way her eyes had turned black he believed she was trying to instigate an Asari meld with him, but Liara had described the meld as a wondrous sharing of thoughts, memories and feelings. This didn't feel like that, to him it felt like she was trying to overpower his mind, and take control of his own consciousness. "Tell me everything you know about Cerberus. Tell me, who is Reaper?" Moralinia demanded to know.

Deciding he'd had enough of her, John pushed back against her presence, bolts of red energy began to surge around him as he drove her out of his mind. Moralinia suddenly began to groan in pain and grasped her head with her free hand, while blood dripped from her nose. Meanwhile, a strange series of images flashed in front of John's eyes.

It seemed to be a memory, but one of Moralinia's not his.

She was face-to-face with an intimidating Turian, "I want the youngest Shepard girl for the Red Room project Atruli," he stated.

"But Sakcakan wants-" she was cut off by him, "that wasn't a request," he threatened. John felt the fear she had at the time.

Snapping back to the present, John shook off what he just witnessed and looked down at the Asari, who was looking up at him terrified. Letting out a growl John threw her across the room, no longer hiding his abilities. The Asari groaned as she slammed into the wall and then slid to the floor, she looked up at him eyes wide with fear, "Goddess, you're….. you're him," she stated.

"Yes," John snarled, he lifted her by the throat, "what is the Red Room?" he asked. "It's my favourite snack stand," she snarked, John broke one of her wrists in response. She groaned in pain, but it soon devolved into a chuckle, "I'm a Spectre kid, were trained to resist pain," she said, grinning. "Not from me," he responded, then red lightning began to arc all over her body, but he wasn't draining her life. She screamed as she felt like her insides were being set on fire, charred patches of skin began to appear as John continued to channel the energy through her body. After a while the red lightning let up, "do I need to repeat the question? John said. By this point half of Moralinia's face was a charred mess, even one of her eyes had gone, she let out a cough, "It's Agonius' pet project. That's all I know I swear."

Jon glared at her for a second, "I believe you," he stated and drained her life, her screams echoing through the apartment.